Mainstream media publications hit Democrat President Joe Biden on Sunday for continuing to avoid news interviews during his first year in office, including one publication that branded him, “Hidin’ Biden.”
“As Biden wraps up his first year in the White House, he has held fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their presidencies, and has participated in fewer media interviews than any of his recent predecessors,” the Associated Press reported. “The dynamic has the White House facing questions about whether Biden, who vowed to have the most transparent administration in the nation’s history, is falling short in pulling back the curtain on how his administration operates and missing opportunities to explain his agenda.”
Biden has only given 22 press interviews through December 31st, far behind previous Presidents Donald Trump, 92; Barack Obama, 156; George W. Bush, 49; Bill Clinton, 54; and George H.W. Bush, 46.
Politico summarized the AP’s report by writing, “HIDIN’ BIDEN — If you feel like you haven’t seen many sit-down interviews with Biden in his first year as president, it’s probably because you haven’t.“
The report added:
Former President Donald Trump, who regularly pilloried the media, did 92 interviews in his first year in office, more than two dozen of those with friendly interlocutors at Fox News. But Trump also held lengthy sessions with ABC News, The Associated Press, the New York Times, Reuters and other outlets whose coverage he impugned throughout his presidency.
Biden’s 22 media interviews have included one-on-one sessions with journalists at three of the major television networks, three CNN town halls, an appearance on MSNBC, a trio of regional television interviews via Zoom, as well as conversations with late night host Jimmy Fallon and ESPN’S Sage Steele. He’s given just three print interviews.
Steven Portnoy, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and a reporter for CBS New Radio, slammed Biden for avoiding answering the media’s questions, calling his actions “insufficient.”
“Fleeting exchanges are insufficient to building the historical record of the president’s views on a broad array of public concerns. We have had scant opportunities in this first year to learn the president’s views on a broad range of public concerns,” Portnoy said. “The more formal the exchange with the press, the more the public is apt to learn about what’s on the man’s mind.”
Portnoy pressed Biden back in November, asking him at the end of a speech, “When will you answer our questions, sir?”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was confronted last month by a reporter over Biden’s lack of media interviews, specifically in local markets.
“I would very much like that to happen,” Psaki claimed. “We are always competing with time on the schedule. I’m going to be honest, his schedule has been quite packed. But he would like to do it. We would like to get it on the schedule. So, I don’t have anything to predict or preview for you at this point and time, but hopefully, we will be able to add some local interviews in the next couple of weeks.”